The UK Ministry of Defence is "strongly encouraging" all its personnel to have their DNA recorded. This is supposed to make identification of their remains easier if they should die in a manner - a disastrous air crash, explosion, etc. - which would inhibit recognition by other means.
"Although the risk of death is small for …

COMMENTS

Secured??

"The MoD adds that the DNA "can be destroyed on written request by the Service person, when they leave service, or after 45 years, whichever is sooner", and that it will be kept in a "secured environment""

Advantages - disadvantages. What to do?

Disadvantages. My DNA gets added to a database, over which I will never have any control and could be used for any purpose (not just to prove I have been a naughty boy).

No matter how many times I get told by the government they will not change the rules, it is amazing how may time the regulations get stretched, altered and interpreted until the use is totally different from that intended. (Use of the Anti-terrorism emergency powers immediately springs to mind).

Destruction

Why don't they just say "It will be destroyed when you leave active service."?

They've promised never to use it for anything else and you can't die on active service after you've left active service and they surely *know* when you leave active service, so what's the problem? Don't they trust their own competence in managing this data? (I know I don't, but don't they?)

DNA

You sometimes read of the police taking DNA samples from hair brushes when looking for a missing person. How long does the DNA in hair last? Could a serviceman put something like that in a sealed contained and leave with their next of kin to be only used if no other means of identification.

Yeah right!

Necessary?

I find it hard to believe that it is even remotely feasible to launch a whole DNA database programme solely to assist in identifying a soldier in the few cases that their remains are unidentifiable. These DNA record will definitively be used for other puposes.

Unless the UK gov is heading to an utterly totalitarian gov then I don't quite understand the manic collection of DNA that is currently going on. For some reason they think DNA will solve all their crime related problems....

I would steer well clear of this if I were in the army ...

... it'd only take the MoD to loose the laptop with all the DNA on it, and then some rather dodgy regime to acquire it, and they'd have a guarenteed way of confirming a military (or ex) military serviceperson.

Imagine if the Nazis had access to UK military ID information when trying to locate an OSS operative in occupied France ? Just line up the people, take their dabs, compare with illicit list of UK military personnel and voila !

Bollox

Err... as an ex-squaddie, what was the point then of lacng an ID tag to my boot, putting one on my respirator case, and putting insulating tape around the two around my neck - to stop the jingling.

Ummm.... there's always something left... usually the boot, the respirator case, or the two in the middle of the pile of ashes that used to be a squaddie.

Just another loads of bollox from your friendly MOD civil service that thought service personnle were there to be fcuk''d around whilst they refined their systems of equipment issue prevention services. After all, service personnel are disposable - they signed on the dotted line to say - whilst the highly trained and freebie-moticated MOD civil servants (at the highest level that is, not the bods at the customer end).

http://www.biometrics.dod.mil

whilst idly browsing , I happened to notice the following DoD projects including NCTC (the National Counterterrorism Center Committee on Identity Management/Biometrics).... In the near term, the document focuses on standards for fingerprints, face, and iris samples. The long term focus includes information on voice and DNA....

How much DNA can you get from such utter bollocks

Bob Ainsworth: "DNA matching is a failsafe method but collecting samples from personal effects or family members can be prolonged and traumatic."

Right.

"Mrs Bloggs, I regret to inform you that your son, Private Joseph, is missing presumed dead after the aircraft he was travelling in exploded."

"Oh, what a shame. I suppose I'll have to put all his stuff on eBay now."

"Can we swab your mouth to collect a DNA sample?"

"WAAAAHHH! My poor poor Joe! Why do the good always die young!"

The trauma of getting a DNA sample is going to be insignificant compared to the trauma of losing a loved one. Do they take us for complete idiots? Oh wait, we elected Labour and were then given two chances to get rid of them and elected them again. We are complete idiots.